Winner of the prestigious Naumburg International Violin Award in 2012, Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of her time. She has been consistently praised by critics and audiences alike for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility and musical elegance.

Lark, 25, was recently named the Silver Medalist of the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, making her the highest-ranked American born winner in the Competition’s history. She is a recipient of a career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. Other awards include the first prize in both the 2008 Irving Klein International Strings Competition and the 2006 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players; and top prizes in the 2012 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition as part of her piano trio, Modêtre, and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in 2009.

At age 16, Lark was soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and has since then performed concerti with the Louisville Orchestra; Santa Fe, Indianapolis, Cheyenne, Santa Cruz, Cape Ann, Melrose and Peninsula symphonies; Gettysburg and Mission Chamber orchestras; Chinese Opera and Ballet Symphony Orchestra; Symphony of Westchester; and New England Conservatory’s Symphony Orchestra as a result of winning the school’s Violin Concerto Competition in 2010 with the Walton “Violin Concerto.” Lark has given many solo recitals, including her Carnegie Hall debut recital in Weill Hall and other concerts for the Troy Chromatics and San Francisco Performances series, the radio broadcasted Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Classics series, Chamber Music Tulsa series, and the Caramoor Wednesday Morning Concert series.

In addition to her busy performance schedule, Tessa has served on the faculty of the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, China and as resident faculty at Lee University School of Music. As a From the Top alumna, Tessa plays an active role in their arts leadership program as a performer and educator. Keeping in touch with her Kentucky roots, Tessa enjoys playing bluegrass and Appalachian music. She collaborates frequently with Mark O’Connor and is included in his CD “MOC4,” recently released in June 2014.